Embryo Bill: How Catholics used their power

Many of Britain's five million Catholics were urged to lobby their MPs against the legislation by their priests. Three Cabinet ministers, the Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, a member of the hard-line Catholic organisation Opus Dei, the Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, who is a Papal knight, and the Defence Secretary Des Browne all warned the Prime Minister of their concerns.

Campaigners were driven by the belief that action was taken too late in another major Church and state clash over adoption. Catholic adoption agencies wanted an exemption from anti-discrimination laws which could have forced them to place children with gay couples. Mrs Kelly fought for an exemption but won only a delay. She was supported by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has since converted to Catholicism.

But the Church won its battle over faith schools, overturning plans to force Catholic schools to admit up to a quarter of pupils from other religious or atheist backgrounds.